CAPE TOWN - The Springboks on Tuesday were sweating over the fitness of winger Bryan Habana and lock Andries Bekker ahead of Saturday's Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Mendoza.

Both suffered ankle injuries in last week's 27-6 win over the same opposition.

Hooker Bismarck du Plessis was ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining knee ligament damage.

He will be undergoing an operation in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Coach Heyneke Meyer is confident that another opportunity for another squad member would be created if Habana does not recover in time.

“I think we have got enough cover and there are great players coming through and they can gain experience by playing.”

Meyer said that Adriaan Strauss has been an integral part of their set-up and will easily fill the void left by du Plessis.

“Adriaan had a great Super Rugby. I have always thought he was a great hooker in the world. He has not played for a few weeks because the Cheetahs did not reach the playoffs, but I think he was awesome on Saturday.”

The Springbok doctor Craig Roberts said du Plessis’ injury was a huge loss.

“He’s going to have surgery and that will rule him out for the rest of the season as the usual rehabilitation for such an injury is up to eight months to come back from that.”

Roberts said they were keeping a close eye on Habana and Bekker.

“At the moment we are managing them. They didn’t train today and we will make an assessment on their availability later in the week,”